Batting

LYNDONVILLE, Vt. – The Castleton baseball team took game one from Lyndon, 4-2, before falling in the night cap by a final score of 8-5 to earn a North Atlantic Conference doubleheader split against the Hornets on Friday afternoon at Skip Pound Complex.

With the split, Castleton saw its 15-game winning streak snapped but took three games out of four in the series to secure first place in the conference. The Spartans are now 25-10 on the year and 19-3 in league action, while Lyndon moved to 15-15 and 11-5 in the NAC with the split.

Castleton 4, Lyndon 2

The top five in the Spartan batting order provided all the scoring for Castleton in game one. Jonathan Lindau and Dillon Benham led the Spartans offensively with two hits apiece.

Cameron Goulet improved to 3-1 on the season with a complete-game effort, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts.

All the scoring took place in the third inning, with Castleton plating four runs on five hits – all with two outs – in the top half of the frame.

Back-to-back singles by Deagan Poland and Davis Mikell started the rally and both runners came around to score on an RBI double to left field by Lindau. Mitchell Caron followed with an RBI single and Benham gave the Spartans a 4-0 lead with an RBI double to center field.

Lyndon cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third with two runs on two hits. Ryan Cordeiro reached on a fielder's choice followed by a fielding mishap up the middle to put two runners on base, before Andre Eason Jr. knocked a two-run single to right field to slim the Spartans lead to 4-2.

Both pitchers settled in from there, as a pair of walks by Lindau and Andrew Graciano were the only two Spartan baserunners to reach safely over the final four innings. Goulet countered his opponent with three straight 1-2-3 innings before the Hornets threatened in the seventh.

Down to their final at-bats, Zak Johnson and Ryder Thorton singled before a one-out walk by David Laroche loaded the bases. Goulet escaped the jam with a strikeout and a game-ending ground out as the Spartans held on to win by a final score of 4-2.

Lyndon 8, Castleton 5

Castleton struck first with a run on three hits in the top of the first. Mikell singled to center and came around to score on another RBI double by Caron. Benham followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but an inning-ending ground out left the Spartans with just one run.

Lyndon responded with three runs on three hits to take its first lead of the day in the bottom of the frame. Cordeiro singled and Eason Jr. reached on an error before Codi Smith drove in two with a double to center field. Laroche followed with an RBI single to center to give the Hornets a 3-1 lead.

The Hornets took advantage of defensive mistakes with a run in the third and four more runs in the fourth to open a sizable 8-1 lead before Castleton bounced back in the late innings.

In the sixth, Graciano lifted a two-run double to left field to cut the deficit to 8-3, but an inning-ending strikeout stranded a runner at third base, as the Spartans were only able to come away with the two runs.

Poland led off the seventh with a walk and came around to score on a two-out error that extended the game for Benham, who belted an RBI double to center field as the Spartans climbed back to make it a three-run game. Dylan Bailey worked a two-out walk to get the tying run to the plate, but a fly out to center field ended the game as Lyndon secured the 8-5 victory.

Benham led Castleton offensively with two hits. Andy Kenosh suffered his first loss of the season, allowing eight runs (five earned) on nine hits with two strikeouts in four innings of work. Jacob Nadeau and Sam Sylvain tossed two scoreless innings in relief.

Smith led Lyndon with three hits and five RBI. Tyler Davis picked up the win, throwing two scoreless relief innings while adding a strikeout.

Castleton will wrap up its regular season on Tuesday with a NAC doubleheader at Colby-Sawyer starting at 2 p.m.